


Night time troubles

by CourtNicxVoltronxYJ



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Claustrophobia, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Pidge | Katie Holt, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2019-11-21 17:40:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18145349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourtNicxVoltronxYJ/pseuds/CourtNicxVoltronxYJ
Summary: Keith has a nightmare and when he wakes up things happen, he attacks others, has a panic attack and his Galra features kick in.*TW (trigger warning) : Contains self harm*





	1. Chapter 1

The air on the planet was thick and Keith's chest was tight with anxiety and fear. He glanced around to see Hunk fighting alongside Lance but then he heard the sound of one of the Galran soldier's gun go off. His eyes widen as he saw Pidge collapse to the hard planet's ground.

"PIDGE!!!"

Another shot was fire and right before his eyes he saw Lance freeze then turn slightly to look at him. Blood was coming from his stomach as Lance slowly fell to his knees. 

"LANCE!!"

Keith held tightly onto his bayard and raced forward to protect his injured friends. As his sword clashed with the soldier before him he could hear Shiro's quick breaths coming over the coms. Then once again Keith heard a shot then another and another before he heard Shiro's small voice on the coms.

"K-Keith....I'm s'rry'' whispered Shiro.

"Shiro no! SHIRO!!"

Keith jumped up quickly in his bed, his heart racing and his breathing uneven. He was so lost in what just happened that he didn't hear the door open, hear someone walking up to him before it was too late.

"keith" Pidge whispered, a piece of him realized that someone was in his room, invading his space and danger just flowed through his veins. Keith quickly reached under his pillow and pulled his blade out and directed it to whomever he thought was a threat.   
Sadly it wasn't a threat but it was Pidge.

"Ouch!" cried out Pidge and at the sound of their voice broke Keith out of his trance. His eyes widen at what he did. Pidge had a cut across her hand and was cradling against her chest. Lance quickly rushed into the room and his blue eyes widen at the scene before him.

"Keith! What The Hell Man!?!?!" yelled Lance as he pulled Pidge closer towards him and gently took her injured hand into his.

"I-I....I didn't mean to. I....I'm sorry! I didn't-'' said Keith as he moved towards the end of his bed. He was stopped by the look Lance gave him, one of anger and fear. Keith froze and then looked down at his blade in his hands, the tip of the blade was covered in red. Pidge's blood. Keith dropped the blade onto the floor and looked at his shaking hands. A patch of purple was on his wrist and that sent fear rushing even faster than the nightmare had in his veins.

"Lance? I...I-I don't k-know what's....I-'' Keith mumbled then looked up to see tears in Pidge's eyes and Lance protecting her like a big brother. He would never hurt her, he would never hurt any of them, they were his teammates, his friends and people he was becoming to trust and lean on, people who he was now considering to be his family. He wouldn't ever hurt them but the look in Lance's eyes, the fear his body held it made a sicking feeling rush over Keith's entire form. He jumped off the bed and raced into the bathroom and locked the door. He didn't miss how Lance ever so slightly pushed Pidge behind him when he moved off of his bed. Lance was protecting her. Protecting her from him and that felt so horribly wrong.

Once he shut the bathroom door he fell to the ground. His whole body was shaking and he could now see more purple traveling over his once pale skin. He gasped and began to rub at the purple but that did nothing so he eventually began to scratch himself until he was bleeding. He was tearing at the purple skin because he needed it to be gone. 

Through all of this Keith had no idea what was going on inside his bedroom. He had no clue that Hunk had taken Pidge away or the fact that Lance was explaining to Allura what happened. He had no idea or realization of Shiro knocking on the bathroom door, calling his name and whispering to him that it was going to be alright. He was having a panic attack.

Keith pulled his knees to his chest, reached up and grabbed fist fulls of his hair and pulled it. Chocked sobs were coming out of him as he breathed faster and faster, to the point he was hyperventilating. Dark spots began to flood his vision as a ringing sound became loud in his eyes. He for a second thought he heard Shiro's voice for a moment but then everything went black.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

After pounding on the bathroom door for what felt like forever and only getting sobs then silence from Keith, Shiro lit his galran hand up and broke through the door. He was shocked to find Keith laying passed out on the ground with a small puddle of blood surrounding his wrist.

Shiro didn't waste anytime standing there. He raced forward and scooped Keith's limp form into his arms and rushed out of the bedroom, pushing past Allura and Lance.

The run down the hallway felt never ending and it only made Shiro's chest even more tighter. He looked down at his little brother and could on see pain on his features. The little purple spot on his injured wrist was fading away and Shiro just pulled Keith closer towards his chest as he ran into the med bay.

"Coran!" yelled Shiro as he laid Keith down upon one of the hospital beds. Coran rushed over and began asking so many questions but Shiro held no answers to them. After a bit, Coran gently placed Keith into one of the pods. As the door closed and fog began to travel up the glass, Lance and Allura entered the room. Lance began to shout about how Keith's skin began to turn purple and that when he moved closer towards them, his eyes for a second flashed a golden color. Shiro was taking all of this in and before he could utter a single word in Keith's defense, Pidge yelled in the room, making everyone quite.

"SHUT UP!!" yelled Pidge who had a look of anger upon her face. 

"Pidge?'' questioned Hunk but she ignored him and marched her way over towards the pod Keith was in and stood beside Shiro.

"He's not a monster. He didn't mean it, he was just scared. I could see that in his eyes, no matter what color they were in'' said Pidge as she turned around to face the others. "He's in trouble I believe and we need to help him, he's our friend! He's like a...big brother to me and I-I can't lose another one...not again.'' Tears could been seen clearly in her eyes and Lance nodded his head and walked over to give her a hug. 

"I'm sorry, I was just really scared" Lance said as Pidge hugged him back.

"I know you were, so was I but Keith was the most frighten out of all of us'' Pidge whispered and pulled away from the hug and turned to face Shiro. 

 

"So what are we going to do next?" asked Pidge and Shiro looked at the others then back to the pod that held his, no...their brother.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad things keep happening, nightmares, panic attacks, attacking others and having Galra features kicking in.  
> *Contains panic attack, claustrophobia, strong language, child abuse, Dissociative identity disorder (D.I.D.) and mentions of Keith being suicidal*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~For those who may not know what D.i.D. is-  
> It is also called multiple personality disorder. It is a mental disorder caused by many factors, including severe trauma during early childhood (usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, or emotional abuse). It is the splitting of one self. The other personalities are called: Alters. Each personality reveals itself and controls the individuals' behavior and thoughts, it's called "switching." Switching can take seconds to minutes to days and can last for a period of time while the said alter is in control. The alters, or different identities have their own age, sex, or race.

That night the paladins stayed in the med bay sleeping the night away while they all waited for Keith to come out of the pod.

It was dark in the room.   
Keith's eyes began to flutter open and he could barely see outside the fogged up glass of the pod. Once Keith's eyes got into focus he just realized how closed in he was and a tightness formed inside his chest. 

''H..He-Help!'' cried out Keith, but his voice didn't reach outside the pod. Keith began to move and panic began to set in as memories came rushing back, chocking Keith in the small pod.

\------------------------------------------

"You Little Piece Of Shit!!" yelled an angry voice coming closer towards a young Keith. "Get Over Here!!"

"I-I...I" stuttered Keith as he backed up from his mad foster father. "I didn't m-m-mean t-to. It was an a-accident" Keith cried. His foster father reached out for Keith's neck and squeezed tightly. "P-Please..." chocked out Keith right before his foster father threw him into the small closet right outside the kitchen. "NO!" yelled Keith as the door slammed shut before him.

Keith's fingertips touched the wooden door as tears came into his eyes. He feared how long he would be in here this time. He tried to tell his foster father that it was an accident, he didn't me to knock over the box of cereal, he really didn't and he was cleaning it up as fast as he could but it just wasn't good enough. Keith pulled his knees to his chest and cried, he hated small places.  
The space was too small, closing in on him by the second. He felt like he was running out of air, his chest moving up and down very quickly as he tried to catch the last bit of air left in this closet but it was never enough. A sharp, stabbing pain filled his chest and his vision was becoming blurry. He hated this, he hated all of this. Small spaces, never being enough, panic attacks, being in the foster care and never being cared for or loved. Tears came rushing down his face as he was losing more and more air to breathe, soon enough everything was spinning, his hands were tingly and everything went black.

\---------------------------------------

Keith's violet eyes flashed gold as he began to bang upon the glass of the pod. He couldn't breathe. He could barley move, it was all way too much, too triggering for him.

Keith's fists banged on the glass a few times before there was a sound of a beep and everything went fuzzy then black. 

The paladins laying around heard the beep and got up quickly to see the pod door swoosh open. Shiro went forward to catch Keith but stop when Keith jumped out of it and stood in a fighting stance. His nails had turned into claws and Shiro could see his hands shaking.

"Keith?" voiced Lance and golden eyes landed on Lance before he spoke.

"Keith isn't here right now" he said.

"What?" Lance asked but before he could step forward, Shiro held his arm out to him, telling him to stop.

"K?" questioned Shiro and he watched as the golden eyes narrowed in his direction. "It's Shiro"

"I know who you are" said K.

"Can you bring Keith out?" asked Shiro and watched as his brother took a step backwards from him.

"What The Hell is going on?!?" yelled Lance, gaining a shush from Pidge.

"Lance, I can't explain right now" said Shiro as he moved closer but that only set K off and he dashed out of the med bay.

"Keith!" Hunk yelled just as the door swooshed shut. Shiro sighed and and his hand through his hair as he was beating himself up. For he knew that he shouldn't have put Keith into that pod, he knew Keith was claustrophobic because of a past home he was in. Shiro knew so much about Keith's past but when he really needed him, Shiro let him down.

"Shiro...'' said Pidge as she walked forward and gently grasped his wrist, letting him know that she was there with support. "Does...does Keith have... Dissociative identity disorder?" asked Pidge.

"Dissociative what?" asked Lance who was truly confused about all of this. He was scared for his friend when he saw him going through some Galra changes but this was something totally else and he had no idea if he could help out at all.

Shiro couldn't at the moment answer Lance's question, he needed to find his baby brother. Shiro nodded his head as he made his way towards the exit.

"Wait!" Hunk yelled but Pidge hushed him as Shiro rushed out of the room. Shiro knew that Pidge would explain what that was to the two boys for he had to find his brother and get him back.

\-----------------------------------------

K rushed down many hallways, looking for a spot to chill out and be able to breathe normally. He was surprised when he got out of that pod, he was even more surprised when he saw Shiro, even though he looked much different than the last time he saw him.

He was super angry with Shiro, for he really hurt Keith the last time they were together. He left Keith, he left him and it broke him. K had to come out and protect Keith from everything because Shiro was no longer around to do it. It pained him to see Keith so sad again, for him to feel left behind and abandon once again. Keith felt worthless and to K's worst fears, he was suicidal.   
So, K had to come out again, he had to. He hadn't been out for a while because Shiro had come along and helped Keith out so much. Shiro was his rock and then one day he up and left, knowing full well what leaving Keith would do to him. Keith has been broken far too many times and K was now out to make sure that didn't happen now. He had...needed to protect Keith from everything and that included Shiro this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this any good?? 
> 
> If you have read any of my stuff you know that I love angst and that I like to use topics i am familiar with/deal with. So i have panic attacks and suicidal thoughts so i can take from that and use it.   
> For D.I.D.   
> I have always been interested in it and at one point in my life almost went to study it. I have a friend right now who has D.I.D. but they don't really like to talk about it because it brings up issues from their past.  
> Here are some references to Shows/Characters who have this mental disorder:
> 
> One Life To Live- Jessica and Vicki.  
> General Hospital- Connie.  
> United States of Tara- Tara.  
> Doom Patrol- Jane.
> 
>  
> 
> ~Thank you for reading this, please leave a comment about your thoughts and if i should make another part of this. Thanks :)


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team does their best to understand and help keith out, but it isn't really easy.  
> This also dives into all the personalities that Keith has.

Sitting in the dark as he rocked back and force, K was trying to keep everything and everyone under control. See K was the protector, he had to protect Keith and the others, they depended on him, he had to do it.

"B-But it Sh-Sh...Kashi'' shuttered Keef. 

"So?!? He hurt Keith! He hurt us!" yelled K as he reached up and gripped his hair tightly. 

As soon as he had yelled at Keef, K knew he messed up. He could feel the others anger towards him but he was just doing his job.   
Keef was only 3 years old and K knew how much he cared about Shiro but K couldn't suppress how badly Shiro had hurt Keith, hurt them. He left! He left them all alone and it broke Keith, it broke him so far that he was drowning within himself.

K screamed out as he kept hearing the others voices in his head.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Should we do something?" questioned Hunk as he heard Keith yell again behind his locked door.

"Right now I think we just need to give them some time" whispered Shiro even though everything inside of him was yelling at him to help his little brother out. He wish he could block all this pain from Keith but he knew he couldn't and he couldn't try to force Keith out before he was ready, that would only make things way worst and the other Alters more on alert. 

"Shiro?" asked Pidge and he sighed, he knew what was coming next. "Can you tell us about Keith?"

Shiro looked away from Keith's bedroom door and looked over at the other Paladins and sighed. He wasn't okay with having this conversation because Keith never wanted anyone else to know about this, he was ashamed of this part of him, his childhood. And for that Shiro knew that he had to only tell the basics of things to help the others to understand Keith a little better.

Shiro nodded his head and headed off to the lounge with the others. Before he turned the corner he glanced back at Keith's door, only hearing silence now.

Everyone sat down and Shiro at first stood, then paced around the room for a second before he finally sat down.  
"What do you want to know?" asked Shiro, even though he knew himself that he was only going to share a little bit and not everything because that was Keith's story to share.

"Who is this K person?" asked Lance and Pidge hit his arm to tell him to shut up for Pidge had already explained what D.I.D. was and what the different alters mean.

"He's Keith protector'' said Shiro.

"Protector? Protector of what?" Hunk asked.

"Anything that becomes too much for Keith. From what I know, he first showed up when Keith was about 7 years old. Keith was in a bad foster home and the people there hurt him, hurt him deeply. Keith broke, he couldn't handle or understand why it happened, so his mind created someone to protect him from all of the bad stuff. In the very beginning, Keith didn't know what was really going on. All he could remember was that he would black out sometimes and when he woke up somethings might be different but not everything hurt as badly. What was happening was Keith would black out and K would come out and deal with the trauma that was being afflicted upon Keith." Shiro told the other Paladins.

"That's horrible" said Hunk with so much sadness within his voice. The sadness was in the whole room, in Hunk's voice, within Lance's blue eyes and in the small tear falling from Pidge's eye. For Pidge and Keith were very close, not as close as him and Shiro but they were much closer than the other paladins were. Keith was like a brother to Pidge and with Matt gone it was nice to have another one and Pidge was a sibling to Keith as well.

"How many Alters are there?" Pidge finally asked after a few minutes of pause between everyone. 

Shiro sighed. He knew at some point that this question would come up and most likely Pidge would be the one to ask it.

"There's 3, at least that's what it was before..." Shiro ran off and looked off into the distance.

"Before you left for the Kerberos mission and everyone said that you were dead" Pidge said. Shiro nodded his head.

"There's K which you've all met, then there is Shane who has so much anger in him from all the bulling Keith dealt with from other kids at the foster homes to kids at school. And lastly there is Keef, who is so sweet and too sensitive. He is only 3 years old. He came out from a terrible abuse Keith dealt with and Keith broke and went into a younger self of himself. Keef was Keith's first Alters, but not the first one he actually met. He met K first and struggled with who he was before discovering who the others and himself were.

The other Paladins nodded their heads in understanding when just then the doors to the lounge opened up and stood there was someone they all knew.

 

"Sh-Shiro?" 

Everyone turned at the voice and waited to see who it was.

"Keith?" questioned Shiro and he nodded his head yes and Shiro rushed over to his side and hugged him. Keith slowly returned the hug because his whole body hurt and he was totally tired for him it was as if he had just came out of the healing pod. 

After a few moments, Keith felt a small amount of pressure on his side and looked down to see Pidge hugging him. He wrapped his arm around them and hugged them back, melting in both Pidge's and Shiro's warmth. Soon both Hunk and Lance came over and hugged him as well and for the first time in what felt like forever, Keith felt loved and welcomed.

He felt at home.

**Author's Note:**

> ~I have no idea where this story is going to go or what i am going to do with it. I had a dream of this and had to write it out as soon as possible before i forgot it, so idk how well this is or if I will make another part to it. But if you could leave a comment, that would be awesome. I love reading peoples comments~
> 
> Thanks :)


End file.
